The Botany Bay Ecosystem
By John Phan
What is Botany Bay?
Botany Bay is where Captain Cook first landed in Australia and it is now an embayment that has many different ecosystems including the mangroves ecosystem, the beach and the bush land.
Biotic Factors are factors that affect the environment which are living, and these include the competition for food, herbivory as it can affect plant populations which will affect all animals that eat plants, as well as parasitism as it can harm a lot of animals.
Abiotic Factors are factors that affect the environment that are living, and these include sunlight for the plants and animals, water availability as it can determine if an animal or plant survives or not, and the climate such as the rain and wind, since it can help things that don't move like plants get water or kill animals and plants in storms.
8 Organisms that typically live in the Botany Bay Ecosystem are:
Biotic Factors are factors that affect the environment which are living, and these include the competition for food, herbivory as it can affect plant populations which will affect all animals that eat plants, as well as parasitism as it can harm a lot of animals.
Abiotic Factors are factors that affect the environment that are living, and these include sunlight for the plants and animals, water availability as it can determine if an animal or plant survives or not, and the climate such as the rain and wind, since it can help things that don't move like plants get water or kill animals and plants in storms.
8 Organisms that typically live in the Botany Bay Ecosystem are:
- The Blue Bottles (Siphonophora)
- The Sea Cucumber (Holothuroidea)
- The Red Fingered Mud Crab (Parasesarma erythodactyla)
- The Blue-Lined Octopus (Hapalochlaena fasciata)
- The Leather Jacket (Oligoplites saurus)
- The Sea Hare (Aplysia californica)
- Strapweed (Pseudomonacanthus macrurus)
- Grey Mangrove (Avicennia marina)
Impact of Humans on the Botany Bay Ecosystem
Humans have affected the Botany Bay in many ways such as the Oil Refinery that they built which would've affected the marine life mainly, since an oil spillage could kill all the marine life and occasionally oil and metals would be flushed into the ocean anyways. Dredging also affects the marine life as the material removed from dredging is sometimes left behind and released into the ocean.Littering also damages both the marine life and the terrestrial animals as the litter can be broken down into small pieces and eaten by the animals.
Sea Cucumber (Holothuroidea)
- The Sea Cucumber is located in most marine environments in the world and is in nearly every part of the world such as in the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian Ocean. It is commonly found in in tropical, shallow water coral reefs though, and this is where you will find most of the Sea Cucumbers.
- The Sea Cucumber are scavengers so they mainly eat small foods on the seafloors such as algae, small aquatic animals and waste particles. They eat using tube feet that are around their mouths.
- The Sea Cucumber has many adaptations but the most interesting include the fact that it can defend itself against attackers by squirting out internal organs to slow them down. These organs are regenerated quickly though so it does not affect the Sea Cucumber. It also is one of the few animals in the world with a respiratory tree which allows it to breathe and fart out of its anus at the same time, saving it space and making the body of the Sea Cucumber smaller and more agile.
The Blue-Lined Octopus (Hapalochlaena fasciata)
- The Blue-Lined Octopus is one of the most dangerous sea animals and its primary habitat is on the tide pools and coral reefs around the Australian Coast including the South Australia, Western Australia and New South Wales coastline. However it is also located between North Australia and Japan and some Blue-Lined Octopuses will be found here.
- The Blue-Lined Octopus's diet mainly consists up of small crustaceans which include small fish, crabs and shrimps. The Blue-Lined Octopus eats by injecting a neurotoxin into the body of the prey, then waiting until the victim can't move before it dismembers it and eats it.
- The Blue-Lined Octopus can blend into the background with its chromatophores which are light reflecting cells, so that it can wait until the prey walks past and the Blue-Lined Octopus attacks. It also has a helpful adaptation which is that it can inject a neurotoxin into the body of the prey so that it can't move while being dismembered and it is easier to kill.
Food Web
The Sun produces the energy for the Algae (Producers) which is eaten by the Shrimp (Primary Consumer) which is eaten by the small Goby fish (Secondary Consumer) which is eaten by the Leather Jacket (Tertiary Consumer) which is eaten by the Pelican (Quaternary Consumer) which is eaten by the Seagull (Quinary Consumer) which is eaten by the Falcon (Senary Consumer) which is eaten by the Eagle (Septenary Consumer).
Bibliography
The websites that i used are trustworthy and reliable because they either end in .edu/.org/.gov or they have the same information as other websites and were also referenced by other websites.
- NSW Government Workers, 2nd of July, 2015, Botany Bay, 7th of September, 2016, http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/beach/ar0708/botanybay.htm
- KaWai Hui, April 2008, Sea Cucumber - Adaptations, 8th of September, 2016, http://bioweb.uwlax.edu/bio203/s2008/hui_ka/06Adaptation.html
- Australian Museum Contributors, 23rd of April, 2010, Blue-Lined Octopus, 9th of September, 2016, http://australianmuseum.net.au/blue-lined-octopus